FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATE: August 7, 2015
CONTACT: Audrey Alt, Communications Manager,
Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation
860-906-2086 (c), 860-243-4800 (o),
Reader’s Digest Partners for Sight InvestsInLife-Changing Work of
Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation
Will help create more partnerships between Fidelco's German Shepherd Guide Dogs and
men and women who are blind
Bloomfield, Conn. – Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation today announced it has been awarded a $20,000 grant from Reader’s Digest Partners for Sight Foundationin support of its Apprentice Guide Dog Trainer Education Program.
Fidelco’s Apprentice Guide Dog Trainer Education Program is an intensive three-year program that prepares trainers to work with Fidelco's German shepherd guide dogs in-training—and then, through Fidelco's In-Community Placement program, to place those guide dogs with men and women who are blind and teach them to work as a team.
Reader’s Digest Partners for Sightis committed to providing support that directly improves the lives of the blind and visually-impaired, helping them realize their full potential in society. Thegenerous grantawardwill help support Fidelco's exclusive Apprentice Guide Dog Trainer Education Program.
“We are proud to be a part of Fidelco’s Apprentice Guide Dog Trainer Education Program,” said Susan Olivo, Executive Director of RD Partners for Sight Foundation. “By partnering with Fidelco in this critical endeavor to continue to add Certified Guide Dog Trainers to its staff, we are helping them to address the ever-increasing demand for guide dog services.”
“Our Apprentice Guide Dog Trainer Education Program is integral to the work we do to prepareour dogs to be life-changing partners. The importance of having highly skilled, intensely motivated, and passionately committed guide dog trainers cannot be overstated," said Eliot Russman,Fidelco'sPresident and Chief Executive Officer. “Thanks to Reader’s Digest Partners for Sight and their support for the Apprentice Guide Dog Trainer Education Program, Fidelco isable to continue to Share the Vision® and extend our proud five-decade tradition of producing the highest quality German Shepherd Guide Dogs available anywhere in the world."
For more information about Fidelco, visit For more information about theReader’s Digest Partners for Sight Foundation, visit
About Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation
The Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Bloomfield, CT. Fidelco is an internationally accredited organization and an admired expert throughout the world for its highly valued German Shepherd Guide Dogs.
Each Fidelco Guide Dog takes two years, 15,000 hours and $45,000 to breed, raise and train. They are given to clients at no cost. Fidelco provides 24/7 client support for the entire working life of its guide dogs – typically 10 years. Fidelco relies solely on the generosity and financial support of individuals, foundations, corporations and civic organizations to help Share the Vision®.
Fidelco has trained and placed more than 1,400 German Shepherd Guide Dogs throughout North America – in 41 states and five Canadian provinces. Fidelco pioneered In-Community Placement in the United States — a process that allows all guide dog users to be trained in the communities where they live and work.
Fidelco also has placed hundreds of its German Shepherd Dogs with law enforcement agencies, first responders, and search and rescue and missing child recovery organizations to help protect our fellow citizens and keep our communities safe.
For more information, please visit or “like” us on Facebook at facebook.com/ fidelcoguidedog.
About Reader’s Digest Partners for Sight:
Reader’s Digest Partners for Sight Foundation is dedicated to increasing the self-reliance and dignity of blind and visually impaired persons. We believe these individuals should have the tools and resources necessary to lead independent, productive lives. Through our support of non-profit organizations that share this philosophy, we are making the world easier to navigate for thousands of people, every day. We are also the publisher of Select Editions Large Type books and a proud co-sponsor of visionaware.org, the premier online resource for people coping with vision loss.
For more information, visit